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With contract negotiations at a standstill between Bexar County and the union representing many of its law enforcement officers, the union has filed suit in an attempt to decide one of the largest unresolved issues — paycheck deductions that go to the union's political action committee.

The county has been making “untrue allegations” regarding the way political donations are collected from members, creating a “cloud of doubt” and disrupting the collective bargaining process, the Deputy Sheriff's Association of Bexar County stated in the recent court filing.

The county has not yet responded in court, but its negotiators maintain they are only making sure the law is followed.

The lawsuit was “not really any big surprise,” attorney Lowell Denton, who represents the county, said Tuesday. “We have a difference of opinion about what the law is and we need to get it resolved one way or the other,” Denton said.

For years, the county has deducted union dues from members' paychecks and passed them on electronically to the union administration — which both sides agree is perfectly acceptable.

That equates to the county illegally holding political funds, county officials have suggested.

The union argues that the payments are nothing more than extra membership dues, which don't get separated into the PAC account until the county has turned it over to the union — and which point it's none of the county's business, the lawsuit states.

“Bexar County does not send any money to the PAC and does not administer any PAC contributions,” union attorney David Van Os wrote in the suit, which was filed over the weekend.

Both sides seem to agree that little progress is going to be made with the negotiations, which have continued since the last contract expired in September 2009, until someone steps in to resolve the conflicting legal interpretations.